Step 1: Thrive guidance on eligibility

What if the application form isn’t accessible to me? 

We have Easy read, BSL and Audio described guidance. 

BSL guidance can be accessed via this link - BSL Thrive 

Links to easy read guidance can be found below.

If our application form still isn’t accessible to you, please get in touch.  We can explore how we can support you to apply for the funding, in a way that meets your needs.  Please call 0113 336 7440 or email culturalgrants@leeds.gov.uk

• To support organisations working year-round to deliver exceptional programmes of cultural activity for, by and with the people of Leeds
• We define cultural activity as original not-for-profit artistic activities in: Circus, Combined Arts, Crafts, Dance, Design, Digital Media, Festival / Carnival, Film, Literature / Poetry / Spoken Word, Live Art, Music, Photography, Theatre, Visual Art or any combination of these art forms
• To build on the legacies of LEEDS2023
• To support ongoing core costs including salaries and overheads which directly enable delivery of the funded programme of activity
• To act as leverage to support organisations to draw in additional funding for cultural programmes
• To support delivery of Leeds City Council’s Best City Ambition
• To support activities that, on balance for each funding round, deliver opportunities and benefits across all areas of the city
• We are particularly keen to support activities that reflect the creative and cultural diversity of Leeds. This includes activities by, with or for those with protected characteristics and those living in the most disadvantaged areas of the city. We will accrue the data of applicants and beneficiaries over time and will respond to gaps in provision across the wider Leeds Cultural Investment Programme.

• You will need to be a legally constituted entity and be able to supply evidence of this (a constitution or memorandum and articles of association)
• You will need to be a not-for-profit organisation and unable to share out profits to members or shareholders
• Your organisation will have a registered address in Leeds
• You will have a board or management committee
• You will hold a bank account in the organisation’s name
• You will be in good financial health, have effective financial controls and be able to submit evidence of this such as management accounts and annual accounts
• You will need to have received arts@leeds funding in the past and have operated in the city for at least 5 years to apply to Thrive
• The Thrive grant cannot form more than 10% of an organisation’s annual income so, for example, if you wish to apply for £20,000, your annual income (including the grant) should be at least £200,000. Your application will need to demonstrate that you can achieve the required level of cash match funding from other sources.
• All of your organisation’s policies and procedures must be in place, up to date and fit for purpose to comply with all relevant legal and regulatory requirements for the activities for which your organisation is wholly liable. This may include for example a safeguarding policy and an equal opportunities policy
• It is possible that we will not invest in your organisation if you have previously received a grant from us that was not managed satisfactorily. This includes if you did not send us monitoring reports within the agreed timescales or if you did not seek approval for changes to your funded activity

• Individuals
• Educational establishments (schools, colleges, universities)
• Commercial (for-profit) organisations 
• Organisations and activity that do not involve work by artists (defined as an individual whose primary income is made through their creative practice)
• Activity that is not cultural (defined as original not-for-profit artistic activities in: Circus, Combined Arts, Crafts, Dance, Design, Digital Media, Festival / Carnival, Film, Literature / Poetry / Spoken Word, Live Art, Music, Photography, Theatre, Visual Art or any combination of these art forms)
• Activities that provide no benefit or engagement opportunity to people in Leeds
• Student/school projects or activities
• Organisations with any other Leeds Cultural Investment Programme funding 
• Leeds Council operated organisations
• Organisations with a registered address outside Leeds 
• Capital equipment
• Sports activity, kit or equipment
• Charity fund-raising events
• Competitions or lotteries
• Redistribution of funds as grants to other parties
• Organisations or activities that promote party political or religious views

• Limited companies registered at Companies House
• Community Interest Companies (CICs) registered with the CIC regulator 
• Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIOs) registered with the Charity Commission 
• Charitable companies or charitable trusts registered with the Charity Commission 
• Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) registered at Companies House 
• Community benefit and co-operative societies regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
• Groups of organisations (one group will need to take the lead and have the main responsibility for managing the application and being accountable for any grant given)

• Limited companies registered at Companies House
• Community Interest Companies (CICs) registered with the CIC regulator
• Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIOs) registered with the Charity Commission
• Charitable companies or charitable trusts registered with the Charity Commission
• Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) registered at Companies House
• Community benefit and co-operative societies regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
• Groups of organisations (one group will need to take the lead and have the main responsibility for managing the application and being accountable for any grant given)

Deadline: Monday 8 January 2024 @ 12pm

Between £20,000 and £60,000 per year

We anticipate that demand for Thrive grants will higher than the funds available. This means that organisations might receive a grant offer which is less than the amount applied for. 

We currently expect to make between 8-15 awards.

Between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2026.

You will be unable to receive any other funding from Leeds Cultural Investment Programme until you have completed your project and returned a Project Completion Form. However, you may be able to apply for future funding from us while you are still delivering your funded activity. 

Yes.

The Thrive grant cannot form more than 10% of an organisation's annual income (excluding any funding from Leeds City Council).  For example, if you wish to apply for £20,000 your annual income (excluding the grant and any other funding from Leeds City Council) should be at least £200,000.

The Leeds Cultural Investment Programme will work to established best practice standards around being a 'responsible funder'.  This means that we will consider the financial sustainability of your organisation beyond the life of this grant, and this will factor into our assessment of your application and in our decision making.

Cash match funding could be from earned income, sponsorships, trusts and foundations or other cultural funders like Arts Council England or National Lottery Heritage Fund.

You do not need to have match funding confirmed before you apply, but you will be expected to tell us about the sources of match funding and amounts you expect to receive in your application. 

In-kind support can also be included in your application. However, you must meet at least the minimum requirement for cash match funding.

Thrive is a competitive fund so applications that deliver higher levels of cash match funding or have funding already confirmed might be considered stronger in assessment.

Please note: While we will ask you to tell us about other funding from Leeds City Council that supports your activity, we cannot count this as match funding. ‘Other sources’ means sources outside Leeds City Council.

1. You must first arrange a 1-1 meeting with a member of Leeds City Council’s Culture Programmes team before you apply. To book a session go to www.leedscultureprogrammes.org.uk

This meeting will enable you to share your ambitions, tell us about your organisation and its work and to discuss what a realistic bid for support might be.

2. You should then complete the Thrive application form on the Culture Programme website: www.leedscultureprogrammes.org.uk

To apply to Thrive you will also need to include the following attachments with your application:

1. Completed Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Monitoring form (download template)
2. Your current business plan
3. Detailed budget for the first year and indicative budget for the second year of activity (download template)
4. Governance documents e.g., articles of association
5. Your most recent set of end of year or audited accounts 
6. Your latest monthly management accounts 
7. Web Links to examples of your creative work 

• Completed applications will be assessed by a panel of Leeds City Council officers and/or external assessors
• Incomplete applications cannot be assessed
• We may also take references from other relevant funders
• Following assessment, we will balance applications to ensure that there is a spread of investment across the city, a broad representation of the diversity of our city and a range of activity in different art forms. Balancing means that you may make a strong application but still not be successful
• We will make decisions based on the funds available. We anticipate that Thrive will be heavily oversubscribed which means that organisations might receive a grant offer which is less than the amount applied for.  
• It is possible that we will not invest in your organisation if you did not follow previous funding requirements or complete the annual survey within the agreed timescales or if you did not seek approval for changes to your funded activity

Yes.

You are welcome to reapply at the next opportunity. 

Meanwhile you may wish to consider other funding opportunities in the Leeds Cultural Investment Programme.

We will aim to notify you of the outcome within 12 weeks of the published application deadline.

For each year of the funding offer:

75% of the grant will normally be issued in April/May

In year one of the grant, we will issue the first grant payment when we have received a signed grant agreement and subject to any additional funding requirements being met. 

25% of the grant will normally be issued in October. This is conditional upon:

1. Quarterly reporting to Leeds City Council of your most recent board papers and management accounts. We will expect you to regularly update your board on progress against the KPIs you agree with Leeds City Council for your Thrive award and for this progress to be visible in the board papers you share with us 
2. Confirmation that you have completed the Leeds Cultural Impacts Survey (further details will be provided in due course.

For subsequent funding years, the first grant payment is conditional on:

1. progress against your KPIs in year one
2. agreement of new KPIs for subsequent years
3. completion of the annual Leeds Cultural Impacts Survey (further details will be provided in due course)
4. achieving the required level of match funding

Important notes: 

The budget available for the Leeds Cultural Investment Programme is reviewed annually as part of Leeds City Council’s annual budget setting process. Therefore, the amount of funding awarded may be subject to change.   For grant awards over multiple years, we reserve the right to vary your payment schedule if/as required. 

Leeds City Council considers most Thrive grant funding from its Cultural Investment Programme will be a subsidy as defined under the Subsidy Control Act 2022 (“the Act”) and will be subject to the conditions in the Act. If your application is successful, it may be awarded under the Minimal Financial Assistance (MFA) exemption of the Act; the MFA exemption permits an organisation to receive up to £315,000 total MFA funding from all sources, within any three financial year period. In this case you will be sent a declaration form to notify us of any previous MFA funding you have received so far in the current financial year and the preceding two financial years, and to confirm that the proposed Inspire grant from Leeds City Council will not take you over your £315,000 MFA limit.  If the Thrive grant would take you over the MFA limit, then Leeds City Council will have to carry out a further assessment of your eligibility under the Act to receive this funding.

To discuss your access needs, please contact us

We will make whatever reasonable adjustments we can to help you to apply for funding.

• Completed applications will be assessed by a panel of Leeds City Council officers and/or external assessors
• Incomplete applications cannot be assessed
• We may also take references from other relevant funders
• Following assessment, we will balance applications to ensure that there is a spread of investment across the city, a broad representation of the diversity of our city and a range of activity in different art forms. Balancing means that you may make a strong application but still not be successful
• We will make decisions based on the funds available. We anticipate that Thrive will be heavily oversubscribed which means that organisations might receive a grant offer which is less than the amount applied for. 
• It is possible that we will not invest in your organisation if you did not follow previous funding requirements or complete the annual survey within the agreed timescales or if you did not seek approval for changes to your funded activity

Yes.

You are welcome to reapply at the next opportunity.

Meanwhile you may wish to consider other funding opportunities in the Leeds Cultural Investment Programme: www.leedscultureprogrammes.org.uk

We will aim to notify you of the outcome within 12 weeks of the published application deadline.

For each year of the funding offer:

• 75% of the grant will normally be issued in April/May

In year one of the grant, we will issue the first grant payment when we have received a signed grant agreement and subject to any additional funding requirements being met.

• 25% of the grant will normally be issued in October. This is conditional upon:

1. Quarterly reporting to Leeds City Council of your most recent board papers and management accounts. We will expect you to regularly update your board on progress against the KPIs you agree with Leeds City Council for your Thrive award and for this progress to be visible in the board papers you share with us
2. Confirmation that you have completed the Leeds Cultural Impacts Survey (further details will be provided in due course)

For subsequent funding years, the first grant payment is conditional on:

1. progress against your KPIs in year one
2. agreement of new KPIs for subsequent years
3. completion of the annual Leeds Cultural Impacts Survey (further details will be provided in due course)
4. achieving the required level of match funding

Important notes:

• The budget available for the Leeds Cultural Investment Programme is reviewed annually as part of Leeds City Council’s annual budget setting process. Therefore, the amount of funding awarded may be subject to change. 
• For grant awards over multiple years, we reserve the right to vary your payment schedule if/as required.

Leeds City Council considers most Thrive grant funding from its Cultural Investment Programme will be a subsidy as defined under the Subsidy Control Act 2022 (“the Act”) and will be subject to the conditions in the Act. If your application is successful, it may be awarded under the Minimal Financial Assistance (MFA) exemption of the Act; the MFA exemption permits an organisation to receive up to £315,000 total MFA funding from all sources, within any three financial year period. In this case you will be sent a declaration form to notify us of any previous MFA funding you have received so far in the current financial year and the preceding two financial years, and to confirm that the proposed Inspire grant from Leeds City Council will not take you over your £315,000 MFA limit.  If the Thrive grant would take you over the MFA limit, then Leeds City Council will have to carry out a further assessment of your eligibility under the Act to receive this funding.